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Benedict Cumberbatch: EE Rising Star Juror

EE today announced that British actor Benedict Cumberbatch has joined the jury for the newly named EE Rising Star Award.

The EE Rising Star Award is the only accolade at the EE British Academy Film Awards voted for by the British public

Cumberbatch to join influential film industry figures on jury including ‘Marley’ and ‘Touching the Void’ director Kevin Macdonald and film critic Mark Kermode - as well as leading film and entertainment journalists

Nominees to be announced on Monday 7 January 2013

The jury met yesterday to decide the five nominees – the winner will be voted for in January by the British public. The nominees will be announced on Monday 7 January 2013 at BAFTA HQ and the winner will be announced at the EE British Academy Film Awards on Sunday 10 February 2013.

This news follows the announcement earlier this month that EE, the recently launched 4G mobile and Fibre Broadband network, is the title sponsor of the EE British Academy Film Awards in 2013, replacing sister brand Orange. The EE Rising Star Award was previously known as the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award.

Spencer McHugh, Director of Brand, EE commented: “We are thrilled to be working with our partners at BAFTA to continue to nurture and celebrate up and coming talent. Film is very important to EE and I am so glad that our esteemed jurors are helping us steer the award.”

About the award

The EE Rising Star Award honours a young actor or actress who has demonstrated exceptional talent and ambition and has begun to capture the imagination of the British public. Previous winners have included Tom Hardy, Kristen Stewart, Noel Clarke, Eva Green and James McAvoy, with 2012’s nominees including Chris Hemsworth, Chris O’Dowd, Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston and winner Adam Deacon. The award is the only one at the ceremony voted for by members of the public, and is a hotly-contested accolade for up-and-coming film talent.

This year, the voting process has been streamlined so that there is now no longlist stage. This means the first nominee announcement will be the shortlist on Monday 7 January, at which point public voting will be opened and available to all UK residents, regardless of which phone network they are on.

The 2013 EE Rising Star Award Jury

Benedict will join a raft of leading film industry figures, including jury chair Pippa Harris, Deputy Chairman of BAFTA’s Film Committee and producing partner of Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road, Jarhead), Scottish director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void, Marley), film critic Mark Kermode, casting director Nina Gold (The King’s Speech, The Iron Lady, Prometheus) and film publicist Kate Lee.

Alongside Benedict and other jurors are leading film and arts journalists Chris Hewitt (Empire), Paul Flynn (Grazia), Charles Gant (Heat), Larushka Ivan-Zadeh (Metro) and Jonny Pile (Shortlist, Mr. Hyde). Many of the jury have discovered, worked alongside or supported rising stars throughout their careers.

The EE Rising Star Award jury’s role is to select a shortlist of five nominees from the hundreds of submissions made by the BAFTA membership and film industry figures.
Juror Benedict Cumberbatch commented: “I am honoured to have been asked to be part of this year’s EE Rising Star Award jury. This award recognises the British public’s passion for film and more importantly gives a boost to up and coming talent, which is so important for cinema. It’s a great platform for young actors and actresses to shine and I’m thrilled to be on board.”

EE Rising Star Award Jury Chair Pippa Harris added: “This is my second year as Jury chair and once again I've been amazed by the sheer quality of emerging acting talent. It's terrific to have such a stellar line up of nominees for the public to vote for.”

The award was created in honour of Mary Selway, the highly respected BAFTA-winning casting director whose career spanned three decades and over ninety films before she died in 2004. She worked with notable directors such as Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, Clint Eastwood and Ridley Scott, contributing to the creation of some of the silver screen's most memorable characters.

For more information on EE 4G and Fibre plans, please visit www.ee.co.uk.

Further Information:

For more information, please contact M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment

About EE

EE is the UK’s most advanced digital communications company in Britain, providing mobile and fixed line services to 27 million customers, and is the first company in the UK to provide 4G mobile services alongside fixed-line fibre.

EE is the company that runs the Orange, T-Mobile and EE brands in the UK.

Its 4G service will cover a third of the population by the end of 2012 and its fibre service will cover 50% of the population by the end of the year.
EE’s mobile service currently provides coverage to 99% of the population with 2G and 98% of the population with 3G.

About BAFTA

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round Learning & Events programme that offers unique access to some of the world’s most inspiring talent through workshops, masterclasses, lectures and mentoring schemes, connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the UK, Los Angeles and New York. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. For further information, visit www.bafta.org.